Thursday, August 15, 2013

I went in front of the Belfast Planning Board last night for the first time for our Use Permit on Slum and Blight. I had built up all sorts of ideas as to how the meeting was going to turn out. Greg went merrily off to NYC yesterday, leaving me panic stricken that I had to go on CC TV by myself!! Luckily, our favorite contractor offered to come with me (but not hold my hand!)

I had submitted a 17 page summary of our project including the magnificent plot plan that Greg drew up.

Because we were so prepared, all I got was kudos from the board members with just a few clarifications on the type of surface for the handicapped parking space and a promise from me to make it hardpack rather than gravel. The only answer I couldn't come up with was about the light poles around the lot and what those will look like and how tall they would be....thank goodness for Mr. Jones, who came up with the answer right away.

Within 20 minutes of the start of the meeting, we were on our way to a steak dinner...thanks Larry!

Some readers may know of our wranglings over the last several months, suffice it to say that those are over. I am glad to say that, even though we are several months behind schedule, we will start back up in ernest on the building the first week in September when we will continue on with gutting the inside of the building and start on the foundation!

A bit about us

Welcome to Slum and Blight: This is a project blog, documenting our work on an old building that my spouse Greg and I bought each other for our wedding present. The city where we live declared our neighborhood "Slum and Blight" in order to qualify for government funds to help fix up this downtown area. We like to think of our building as the gateway to Slum and Blight. Sit back, relax and scroll through my entries about the work we are doing.